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Mauricio Pochettino Joins Pundits in Criticism of Dele Alli Following Dive Against Huddersfield

October 2, 2017October 2, 2017 by Sports Illustrated

From our friends at Sports Illustrated:

Mauricio Pochettino Joins Pundits in Criticism of Dele Alli Following Dive Against Huddersfield

Tottenham Hotspur attacker Dele Alli has found himself on the end of quite a bit of criticism after his antics against Huddersfield Town on the weekend.

Spurs left John Smith's Stadium with all three points after beating the Premier League newcomers 4-0, but not without Alli trying to fool the referee into awarding him a penalty by diving over the opposing keeper Jonas Lossl with his team already cruising at 3-0 up.

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This comes after the attacker received a ban for one international match due to an offensive gesture. He will miss England's match against Slovenia on Thursday as a result.

Alli's actions sent fans into a rave on social media, and pundits were just as disappointed.

“It’s alright saying that he is 21 years of age but there has to be a time where we stop saying that," Alan Shearer said on BBC’s Match of the Day.

"He has to learn now. You’d think after being banned for England he would want to stay out of trouble but that was blatantly trying to cheat.”

Former referee Graham Poll, writing in the Daily Mail, described the player as one who 'can't stop cheating'.

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“Dele Alli has a major flaw in his game – he can’t stop cheating," Poll wrote. "There was a chance to score, there was no reason for the England player to dive, but he couldn’t resist it.

“The FA need to look at their disciplinary regulations. At the moment, they will only act and suspend a player if a dive is successful; ie the referee has been conned and a penalty, for example, has been wrongly given."

"I didn't see. It's so difficult for me from my position," the manager told Sky Sports. "But if it was like this he needs to learn. He must learn. This type of action doesn't help him, doesn't help the team and doesn't help the football."

This wasn't the first time Alli received a booking for diving in recent seasons, and Pochettino reckons that he needs to learn.

"We are talking in the last few years about fair play, about being honest. I think he is improving a lot and learning but still he must learn."